THE  HISTORICAL  METHOD 
IN  THE  STUDY  of  RELIGION 

By  SHIRLEY  JACKSON  CASE,  Ph.D. 


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An  address  delivered  on  the  occasion 
of  his  inauguration  into  the  professor- 
ship of  the  Philosophy  and  History 
of  Religion  in  Cobb  Divinity  School, 
Bates  College,  Lewiston,  Maine,  June 
Twenty -Six,  Nineteen  Hundred  Seven 


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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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V    4022      C3 

ase,  Shirley  Jackson,  1872- 
1947. 
The  historical  method  in  th< 
study  of  religion 

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THE    HISTORICAL   METHOD    IN 
THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGION 


By    SHIRLEY    JACKSON^'cASE,    Ph.D. 


An  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  his 
inauguration  into  the  professorship  of  the 
Philosophy  and  History  of  Religion  in  Cobb 
Divinity  School,  Bates  College.  Lewiston,  Me., 
June   Twenty-Six,   Nineteen    Hundred    Seven 


LEWISTON.  MAINE 

Press  of  the  Lewiston  Journal 

1907 


ORDER   OF 


Inaugural  Exercises 


iflitstr 

Record  of  the  Action  of  the  Trustees, 

by  the  Secretary  Hon.  F.  INI.  Drew 

Induction,  by  the  President 

George  C.  Chase,  D.D..  LL.D. 

Welcome  to  the  Fellowship  of  the  Faculty, 

by  the  Dean  Rev.  James  A.  Howe,  D.D. 

Inaugural  Address : 

The  Historical  Method  in  the  Study  of  Religion 

Professor  Case 

iHusir 


The   Historical   Method   in  the  Study 
of  Religion 


It  seems  appropriate  at  this  time  that  I  should  set  forth 
the  fundamental  principles  underlying  my  particular  depart- 
ment :  The  Philosophy  and  History  of  Religion. 

The  scope  of  my  work,  the  method  to  be  pursued,  and  the 
results  to  be  sought  are  all  matters  which  seem  to  demand 
some  exposition  on  this  occasion.  With  this  end  in  view  I 
shall  discuss  the  Historical  Method  in  the  Study  of  Relig- 
ion, and  thereby  introduce  you  to  the  character  of  the  work 
that  falls  distinctively  to  my  hand  as  a  teacher  in  Cobb 
Divinity  School. 

RELIGION  DEJ"INED 

A  glance  at  our  latest  catalog  will  show  that  my  depart- 
ment proposes  for  itself  no  less  a  task  than  the  study  of  the 
science  of  religion.  It  thereby  regards  religion  as  a  science, 
and  so  must  take  it  in  a  broad  sense.  Consequently  a  com- 
prehensive definition  of  religion  is  essential  to  further 
enquiry,  but  this  is  not  easily  obtained.  True,  there  are 
numerous  definitions  already  in  existence  but  most  of  them 
are  inadequate — they  are  either  not  broad  enough  to  include 
all  varieties  of  faith,  or  not  comprehensive  enough  to 
embrace  all  the  elements  in  a  single  variety.  If,  for  exam- 
ple, you  say  religion  is  the  worship  of  Jehovah  you  have 
excluded  some  who  are  religous  though  they  are  neither 
Jews  nor  Christians ;  and  if  you  call  it  the  worship  of  any 
being  or  beings  regarded  by  the  individual  as  superhuman 
the  definition  is  still  unsatisfactory,  for  worship  is  not  really 
religion  but  is  merely  one  of  its  forms  of  expression.  The 
individual   worships   because   he  is   religious,  and   not  z'icc 


versa.  Another  popular  statement  defines  religion  as  "the 
life  of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,"  but  this  might  lead  one  to 
infer  that  it  is  an  exotic  plant  transferred  from  its  native 
heavenly  atmosphere  into  the  frigid  zone  of  the  human  soul. 
On  the  contrary,  investigation  seems  to  show  that  man  is 
inherently  and  incurably  religious.  We  propose  to  define 
religion  as  the  God-ward  consciousness  of  the  human  race, 
the  soul's  sense  of  its  relation  to  deity.  It  is  the  God-faculty 
of  man.  This  is  comprehensive  enough  to  include  all  peoples 
of  every  shade  of  faith.  It  embraces,  indeed,  the  entire 
human  race,  for  we  have  yet  to  find  a  people  absolutely 
devoid  of  this  consciousness.  Some  tribes,  low  in  the  scale 
of  civilization,  have  been  thought  to  be  entirely  without  it, 
but  a  better  acquaintance  with  them  has  shown  that  the  sup- 
position was  erroneous.  Sometimes  this  religious  faculty  is  in 
a  very  crude  state,  resulting  in  a  low  conception  of  the  deity 
and  false  ideas  of  the  relation  existing  between  him  and  the 
creature.  But  in  Christ  we  see  this  religious  consciousness 
in  its  highest  activity ;  it  is  he  who  sees  the  Father  with  clear- 
est vision,  and  the  ideal  relationship  of  man  to  God  is  set 
forth  in  his  familiar  words :  *'Thy  will  not  mine  be  done." 
The  noble  Christian  conception  of  God,  and  the  Christian 
struggle  to  attain  unity  of  will  with  the  Father,  seem  a 
great  distance  removed  from  the  faith  of  the  savage,  and 
the  terror  and  superstition  which  control  his  attitude  to  the 
unseen,  but  in  germ  the  intelligent  attitude  of  the  Christian 
and  the  blind  groping  of  a  primitive  man  are  one — instinct- 
ively there  is  in  each  the  God-ward  leaning  of  the  human 
spirit. 

But  religion  is  more  than  an  inherent  thought  germ — it  is 
a  life.  This  God-ward  consciousness  has  an  objective  con- 
tent, an  expressive  vitality,  and  a  character-determining 
power.  Objectively  it  includes  every  picture  of  deity  that 
has  ever  been  painted  by  the  imagination  of  man.     It  has 


prompted  him  to  see  the  Ahiiighty  sometimes  in  a  freak  of 
chance,  sometimes  in  an  unusual  display  of  nature's  powers, 
and  sometimes  in  the  still,  small  voice.  Moreover,  it  will 
not  remain  unexpressed.  Ceremony,  creed,  ritual,  the 
diverse  forms  of  worship  from  the  superstitious  practices  of 
the  savage  to  the  sane  devotion  of  the  Christian  find  in  it  the 
main  spring  of  their  life.  And  it,  of  course,  is  the  basal 
factor  in  determining  personal  conduct  and  character. 

Religion,  then,  is  not  to  be  consigned  to  some  hermeti- 
cally sealed  compartment  of  the  human  heart,  it  is  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  man.  It  colors  his  thinking,  regulates  the 
devotions  of  his  soul,  and  determines  the  balance  of  his 
entire  life. 


THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGION:    ITS  SCOPE 

If  religion  must  be  thus  broadly  defined,  what  limits  are 
to  be  set  to  the  study  of  it?  Such  study  will  fall  into  three 
general  divisions.  First,  an  examination  and  comparison 
of  the  historical  data  of  all  religions,  commonly  designated 
the  History  and  Comparison  of  Religions.  This  field  of 
investigation  is  as  wide  as  the  distribution  of  the  human 
family  and  reaches  back  to  primeval  man.  Every  element 
that  is  included  in  the  religious  life  of  all  men,  past  and 
present,  must  be  sought  out,  and  the  results  of  the  investi- 
gation formulated.  To  these  results  the  comparative  method 
is  then  to  be  applied,  that  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  all 
religions  may  be  ascertained,  and  the  religious  ideas  of  the 
race  be  thus  reduced  to  their  lowest  terms.  This  compari- 
son must  deal  with  the  relation  of  certain  ideas  in  the  same 
faith,  or  similar  ideas  in  the  faiths  of  different  peoples. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  parallels  that  have  been  observed  to 
exist  between  certain  beliefs  common  to  the  Babylonians 
and  Hebrews,  or  between  Buddhism  and  Christianity.     It  is 


the  business  of  the  student  in  this  department  to  determine 
whether  these  similar  ideas  are  proof  of  original  interde- 
pendence, or  whether  the  likeness  is  due  to  the  working  out 
of  a  common  religious  impulse.  With  his  broad  outlook  it 
will  not  disturb  him  to  find  some  phases  of  Christian  thought 
anticipated  in  the  historic  faiths.  Why  should  not  human 
beings  with  a  common  religious  instinct  come  to  think  alike, 
without  borrowing  from  each  other?  Their  resemblances 
in  religious  thinking  may  be  but  additional  evidence  of  a 
common  native  impulse.  This  wide  study  of  the  historic 
religions  is  of  especial  importance  for  theological  students. 
If  they  are  to  be  the  spiritual  surgeons  for  their  own  gener- 
ation they  should  understand  the  religious  anatomy  of  the 
race. 

This  then  is  the  first  item  in  our  study,  the  sifting  and 
comparing  of  the  objective  elements  in  the  religions  of  the 
world. 

There  is  also  a  second  important  item :  A  study  of  the 
religious  consciousness  in  the  life  of  the  individual.  What 
are  the  laws  which  govern  this  God-ward  gravity  of  the 
human  mind?  What  are  the  conditions  which  stimulate  its 
activity,  or  what  the  circumstances  which  retard  its  growth  ? 
This  is  a  study  of  the  personal  element  sometimes  called  the 
Psychology  of  Religion.  Here,  too,  the  ministerial  student 
will  find  material  for  reflection.  Possibly  we  make  some  of 
our  gravest  blunders  by  assuming  that  the  mind  of  another 
must  deal  with  religious  problems  just  as  ours  did.  Noth- 
ing could  serve  better  as  a  corrective  for  this  error  than  a 
study  of  the  personal  element  in  the  religious  experience  of 
the  past.  To  illustrate,  suppose  you  wish  to  explain  the 
nature  of  true  conversion,  what  is  the  mental  process  that 
you  would  require  in  the  individual?  Would  it  be  some- 
what in  this  wise :  an  overmastering  sense  of  the  burden  of 
sin,  a  feeling  of  absolute  helplessness  under  this  burden,  and 


then  a  sudden  feeling  that  the  burden  has  been  removed 
by  beHeving  in  the  substitutionary  sacrifice  of  Christ?  But 
the  mental  make-up  of  some  men  is  such  that  they  do  not 
seem  able  to  entertain  this  point  of  view.  They  are  not 
conscious  of  being  great  sinners,  for  their  lives  have  not 
been  stained  by  vicious  habits;  and  the  moral  law  has  been 
kept  as  carefully  by  them  as  by  yourself.  ]\Ioreover,  they 
do  not  feel  that  they  are  helplessly  worsted  in  the  struggle 
with  sin,  for  they  are  aware  of  a  certain  moral  fibre  within 
them  which  strengthens  them  to  resist  evil.  Nor  can  their 
sense  of  justice  (so  they  say)  consent  to  the  validity  of  pun- 
ishing the  innocent  instead  of  the  guilty.  And  yet  they 
seem  to  be  honest  and  sincere,  and  are  interested  in  things 
religious.  What  shall  we  do  with  such  men?  Shall  we 
demand  that  their  thought  be  cast  into  our  mental  mold,  or 
else  that  they  forever  remain  outside  the  pale  of  the  church  ? 
If  we  are  sure  that  our  interpretation  of  the  psychology  of 
conversion  is  absolutely  infallible  then  we  must  demand  that 
it  be  accepted  as  the  only  condition  of  entrance  into  the 
kingdom.  But  before  we  become  dogmatic  upon  such  mat- 
ters, we  should  make  a  careful  study  of  those  elements 
which,  at  this  point,  entered  into  the  experience  of  well- 
known  persons  in  the  past.  Can  we  verify  our  theory  by 
reference  to  the  initiatory  experiences  of  James,  John,  Peter, 
Matthew,  Nathaniel,  Justin  Martyr?  Is  the  vital  thing  in 
conversion  the  attainment  by  all  individuals  of  a  uniform 
psychological  state,  or  is  it  the  conscious  fusion  of  the  spirit 
of  a  man  with  the  spirit  of  God  under  a  psychological  state 
that  may  be  peculiar  to  each  individual?  At  any  rate  the 
most  valid  information  on  this  question,  as  well  as  on  many 
others,  will  be  found  in  a  study  of  personal  experience  in  its 
historic  manifestations. 

And   another   very   profitable    side   to   this   psychological 
enquiry  is  the  insight  which  it  gives  into  the  mental  activi- 


ties  of  great  religions  leaders.  What  is  more  enlightening 
and  personally  helpfnl  than  to  follow  their  mental  pro- 
cesses as  they  struggle  with  the  problems  of  their  day !  So 
to  study  the  thought  of  Christ  is  to  get  for  oneself  the 
mind  of  the  Master,  and  the  ability  to  think  his  thoughts 
after  him. 

But  our  task  is  not  yet  complete.  We  have  dealt  with  the 
data  of  religion  drawn  from  history  and  psychology,  and 
our  next  undertaking  is  to  discover  if  possible  a  common, 
fundamental  religious  instinct  in  man,  to  formulate  the  laws 
which  govern  it,  and  to  test  the  validity  of  these  laws  in  the 
light  of  common  rationality,  and  in  relation  to  the  great 
world  order.  This  is  technically  denominated  the  Philos- 
ophy of  Religion.  It  used  to  be  supposed  that  one  could 
philosophize  upon  this  subject  without  much  regard  for 
objective  facts,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  facts  to  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  theories  which  an  elaborate  system  of 
philosophy  had  enunciated.  But  this  method  is  fast  becom- 
ing obsolete.  Not  long  ago  a  late  authority,  speaking  upon 
this  topic,  said :  "The  time  has  long  since  passed  wdien  people 
fancied  they  could  philosophize  about  religion  without  car- 
ing for  its  history.  Of  the  absolute  indispensability  of  his- 
torical studies  I  need  not  remind  you." 

Such  in  general  is  the  scope  of  my  department.  It  deals 
primarily  with  the  religious  consciousness  of  humanity  as 
expressed  in  history.  It  seeks,  therefore,  to  investigate  all 
facts  in  the  realm  of  the  religious  life,  and  to  enquire  into 
the  mental  activities  of  religious  personages,  and  finally  to 
show  that  its  formulations  satisfy  .the  intellectual  curiosity 
of  the  race,  and  accord  with  a  rational  interpretation  of  the 
universe. 

THE  HISTORICAL  METHOD  DEFINED 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  we  are  committed  to  the  so-called 
historical  method  in  the  entire  study,  and  it  is  now  our  inten- 

9 


tion  to  view  this  method  at  closer  range.  We  shall  seek  to 
define  it  more  exactly,  to  show  its  bearing  upon  some  of  the 
more  important  points  in  Christianity,  and  to  set  forth  the 
ends  which  it  should  serve. 

History  deals  primarily  with  facts.  It  may  content  itself 
with  a  simple  narration  of  past  events,  or  it  may  comment 
upon  their  relations  and  explain  the  causes  which  produced 
them,  but  essentially  it  is  a  factual  science.  As  applied  to 
religion  (and  we  shall  now  speak  of  it  in  connection  with 
Christianity  more  especially)  it  is  a  method  of  study  which 
scans  the  past  to  ascertain  matters  of  certainty — exactl}'  what 
was  thought,  said,  or  done.  Now  is  it  true,  as  one  said  not 
long  ago,  that  "there  are  well-meaning  Christians  all  over 
the  world  whose  eyes  are  unable  to  stand  the  full  glare  of 
facts?"  Are  the  devotees  of  Christianity  more  loyal  to  tra- 
dition, to  prejudice,  to  dogma,  or  to  creed  than  they  are  to 
truth  ?  I  cannot  think  it  is  so.  Indeed,  we  are  sometimes 
dogmatic,  and  show  scant  courtesy  toward  him  whose  opin- 
ions differ  from  ours,  but  we  each  think  we  are  standing 
upon  the  facts,  though  it  is  evident  that  someone  must  be 
mistaken.  The  historical  method  seeks  to  set  aside  all  blind- 
ing prejudices  and  to  look  with  steady  eye  upon  the  relig- 
ious truth  of  the  ages.  If  there  is  anything  discovered  that 
calls  for  remodeling  of  ideas  it  stands  ready  to  follow  the 
light — it  loves  light  rather  than  darkness  even  though  to 
walk  in  the  light  requires  the  sacrifice  of  some  of  its  long- 
cherished  opinions. 

Is  it,  then,  the  champion  of  every  would-be  new  theology  ? 
Our  ears  are  sometimes  assaulted  by  a  babel  of  voices  that 
would  have  us  think  Christianity  has  never  been  properly 
understood  until  now,  but  to  the  student  who  pursues  the 
historical  method  these  new  nostrums  are  not  particularly 
palatable.  If  they  relate  themselves  properly  to  the  age- 
long stream  of  truth  he  accepts  them,  otherwise  he  rejects. 


His  is  the  scientific  attitude.  He  thinks  it  shows  an  inordi- 
nate conceit  on  the  part  of  the  theologian  to  assume  that  he 
knows  all  the  truth  that  is  knowable,  and  that  it  is  equally  a 
sign  of  empty-headedness  to  be  chasing  balloon-fashion 
every  new  fad  that  appears  on  the  theological  horizon.  His- 
torical study  is  a  sober  science.  It  calls  to  its  aid  the  criti- 
cal historian,  the  trained  archaeologist,  and  the  competent 
student  of  literature.  Of  the  first  it  asks  accurate  informa- 
tion about  the  happenings  of  the  past;  it  demands  of  the 
second  all  available  knowledge  regarding  the  life  and  cus- 
toms of  primitive  peoples,  as  a  key  to  the  comprehension  of 
their  religious  ideas ;  and  to  the  third  it  looks  for  reliable 
information  concerning  the  origin  and  trustworthiness  of 
the  extant  religious  literatures.  Incidentally,  too,  it  seeks 
the  aid  of  the  psychologist  and  philosopher  in  interpreting 
the  mind  and  thought  of  individuals.  Nor  is  it  concerned 
with  the  past  alone.  If  that  were  the  case  it  might  be  con- 
tent with  establishing  a  museum  of  antiquities,  a  collection 
of  theological  curios ;  but  it  labors  in  the  interests  of  the 
present,  hence  it  aims  to  put  its  results  in  such  form  that  the 
present  may  reap  full  benefit  therefrom. 

Perhaps  we  shall  understand  this  historical  method  better 
by  observing  its  manner  of  procedure  in  some  specific 
instances.  We  shall  take  three  illustrations :  How  does  it 
deal  with  the  Bible?  How  does  it  study  the  historical  per- 
son, Jesus  Christ?  and  how  does  it  handle  the  problem  of 
authorit}'  in  religion? 


THE  HISTORICAL  METHOD  APPLIED  TO  THE  BIBLE 

When  one  approaches  the  Bible  from  this  point  of  view 
he  is  apt  to  be  dubbed  "higher  critic,"  and  that  is  an  oppro- 
brious epithet  often  thought  to  be  almost  coterminous  with 
infidel.     Xow   the  student  mav  be  a  higher  critic   and  he 


may  not  be.  Very  likely  he  is.  however,  but  what  of  that? 
You  know  there  are  critics  and  critics.  Luther  said  of  some 
interpreters,  who  were  even  among-  his  own  followers,  that 
they  reminded  him  of  Solomon's  trading  ships :  some  came 
back  ladened  with  gold,  others  brought  only  apes  and  pea- 
cocks. If  one  is  a  historical  investigator  he  finds  no  delight 
in  exploiting  freakish  hypotheses,  but  he  will  conduct  a  rigid 
research  for  the  truth.  Occasionally  some  one  snaps  up  a 
fact  that  has  been  brought  to  light  by  the  archaeologist  and 
flaunts  it  in  the  face  of  the  public  as  evidence  that  refutes 
the  folly  of  the  higher  critic.  Some  of  our  otherwise  reput- 
able religious  journals  are  not  entirely  free  from  this  sort  of 
jingoism.  Do  they  not  know  that  it  is  the  higher  critic,  if 
his  method  is  genuinely  historical,  as  is  usually  the  case,  who 
is  most  ardently  backing  this  work  of  research !  When  the 
result  corroborates  the  scriptural  records  his  joy  is  great,  and 
when  it  is  contradictory  he  loyally  sets  to  work  to  deal  with 
the  situation.  It  is  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  historical  stu- 
dent to  shed  all  possible  light  upon  the  book. 

And  how  does  he  go  about  it?  One  of  the  first  queries 
he  raises  is.  How  did  the  sacred  book  come  into  being?  He 
traces  the  history  of  its  translation  back  to  the  ancient  man- 
uscripts, but  here  he  is  dismayed  to  find  what  at  first  sight" 
seems  to  be  utter  chaos.  He  may  discover  100,000  varia- 
tions of  reading  in  the  New  Testament  manuscripts  alone. 
He  must  then  sift  and  compare  and  select  these  readings 
that  seem  to  be  best  authenticated;  but  here  he  must  trust 
his  own  judgment  at  many  points,  for  he  will  not  find  the 
original  copy  written  by  Matthew  or  by  Mark  or  by  John, 
nor  will  he  at  best  get  within  a  couple  centuries  of  the 
autograph.  He  cannot  know  what  alterations  in  copying 
may  have  taken  place  during  that  time;  but  thanks  to  his 
tireless  industry  and  the  saneness  of  his  judgment  he  has 
convinced  us  that  our  present  revised  version  represents  in 


all  essentials  the  truth  as  it  was  recorded  by  the  authors 
themselves.  The  process,  however,  has  destroyed  any  belief 
which  he  may  have  held  in  a  doctrine  of  verbal  inspiration, 
but  it  has  given  him  instead  a  more  faithful  representation 
of  the  meaning  of  the  original  documents. 

He  will  now  push  his  enquiry  still  further  to  ascertain  the 
facts  about  individual  books :  When  and  why  were  they 
written,  and  by  whom?  And  have  they  undergone  any  lit- 
erary history  in  the  course  of  transmission?  What  were 
the  grounds  on  which  certain  books  were  chosen  as  author- 
itative, and  how  and  when  did  this  idea  come  into  being? 

And  then  he  turns  his  attention  to  the  interpretation  of 
scripture,  and  finds  that  certain  verses  have  here  and  there 
been  torn  from  their  context  in  order  to  support  some  favor- 
ite theological  doctrine;  and  he  forthwith  records  an 
emphatic  veto.  He  demands  that  every  interpreter  under- 
stand the  circumstances  behind  the  individual  book,  and 
interpret  its  meaning  accordingly.  Especially  does  he  object 
to  having  a  priori  hypotheses  in  theology  foisted  upon  Paul, 
or  Peter,  or  Jesus.  He  demands  that  you  interpret  these 
persons,  and  all  others,  in  the  light  of  their  times  and  in 
accordance  with  tha  context,  whether  you  can  square  the 
interpretation  with  your  own  belief  or  not.  The  historical 
student  has  great  respect  for  the  Bible  but  he  does  not  treat 
it  as  a  fetish.  He  worships  and  adores  the  God  whose  truth 
it  reveals,  and  recognizes  that  the  sacred  word  is  not  the 
author  of  religion  but  rather  is  one  of  its  products.  His  aim 
is,  therefore,  to  understand  the  book  that  he  may  ultimately 
comprehend  the  truth  which  brought  it  into  being. 

JESUS  STUDIED  HISTORICALLY 

How  does  the  historical  investigator  proceed  in  his  study 
of  Jesus  Christ  ?  One  of  his  first  efiforts  will  be  to  eliminate 
if  possible  those  elements  in  the  reported  words  and  deeds 

13 


of  the  Master  that  are  colored  by  the  individuaHsm  of  the 
ditterent  gospel  writers.  And  here  he  is  greatly  aided  by 
the  fact  that  there  are  four  biographies  instead  of  one.  A 
careful  comparison  may  betray  individual  traits  which  could 
never  be  known  from  one  alone,  and  an  original  incident 
or  word  that  failed  to  appeal  to  one  may  have  been  preserved 
by  another.  This  effort,  if  successful,  would  show  the  real 
Jesus  of  history  as  distinct  from  that  special  picture  of  him 
painted  respectively  by  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  or  John. 

There  will  also  be  a  very  earnest  attempt  to  understand 
the  mind  of  Jesus,  to  trace  the  history  of  his  religious  devel- 
opment as  he  met  the  great  issues  of  his  day,  to  appreciate 
his  view  of  the  truth,  to  learn  the  secret  of  his  power,  and  to 
understand  the  full  significance  of  his  wonderful  message  to 
mankind. 

Then  there  is  the  person  of  Jesus,  with  the  doctrinal  inter- 
pretation of  which  the  historical  student  is  not  much  inclined 
to  meddle.  He  does  however  recognize  Jesus'  uniqueness, 
and  he  strives  to  investigate  the  facts  which  reveal  its  basis. 
In  so  far  as  this  demands  an  examination  of- personality,  or 
a  discussion  of  metaphysical  problems,  this  method  holds 
that  the  data  of  modern  research  in  the  departments  of 
psychology  and  philosophy  shall  be  consulted.  The  stereo- 
typed phrases  of  some  of  the  ancient  theologians,  whose 
logic  was  sometimes  verbal  rather  than  rational,  must  often 
be  ruled  out  of  court,  for  we  recognize  that  psychology  and 
metaphysics  belong  to  an  exact  science  whose  domain  must 
not  be  desecrated  by  word-juggling  devices  regarding  like 
natures,  or  identical  natures,  or  unity  of  nature  and  dis- 
tinction of  personality,  and  the  like.  Historical  study  has  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  recognizing  the  divinity  of  Christ,  but 
it  sees  his  divinity  more  easily  in  the  realm  of  the  spirit  than 
in  the  physical  or  metaphysical  spheres. 

14 


HISTORY  AND  AUTHORITY 

In  the  next  place,  how  are  we  to  deal  with  the  problem  of 
authority  in  religion  ?  It  is  the  dictum  of  historical  science 
that  truth  alone  is  authoritative,  and  that  written  records 
have  authority  just  in  proportion  to  their  truthfulness.  By 
this  canon  it  measures  all  documents,  even  the  Bible.  It 
regards  the  truth  recorded  in  the  Bible  as  finding  its  validity, 
not  primarily  in  the  fact  of  scriptural  canonicity,  but  in  its 
own  essential  qualities.  In  other  words,  a  thing  is  not  true 
because  it  is  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  in  the  Bible  because  it 
is  true,  or  was  thought  to  be  true  at  the  time  the  narrative 
was  written.  This,  on  the  strength  of  the  best  evidence 
available,  seems  to  have  been  the  opinion  of  Jesus  who 
regarded  some  things  in  the  book,  said  by  those  of  old  time 
in  the  religious  childhood  of  the  Hebrew  race,  not  as  absolute 
and  eternal  verities  wdien  placed  under  the  searchlight  of  his 
superior  wisdom.  Truth  carries  with  it  its  own  attestation, 
and  does  not  rest  upon  some  arbitrary  dictum  pronounced 
in  the  past.  For  example,  what  constitutes  the  binding 
power  of  the  decalogue  ?  Is  it  this,  that  God  has  decreed  it 
to  be  a  law  binding  upon  mankind  for  all  ages?  Would  it, 
therefore,  be  right  to  steal  if  God  had  not  commanded  other- 
wise ?  Of  course  not.  There  is  really  no  such  thing  as  cre- 
ating law,  law  is  discovered  not  made.  Even  physical  law 
which  appears  regnant  in  the  universe  is  not  to  be  thought 
of  as  a  separate  thing  due  to  a  special  creative  act,  but 
inheres  essentially  in  the  very  idea  of  a  created  universe.  So 
the  decalogue  is  inherently  authoritative,  and  is  not  merely 
made  so  by  the  divine  pronouncement.  Had  God  pro- 
nounced to  the  contrary,  thus  violating  moral  truth,  he  would 
not  have  been  God.  Truth  has  rights  upon  which  even  the 
Almighty  may  not  infringe.  In  the  very  nature  of  things 
it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  decree  that  error  should 
be  truth. 

IS 


But  what  capacity  has  man  for  comprehending  truth? 
There  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  common  reHgious  faculty  of 
the  race.  This  has  uniformly  borne  witness  to  such  articles  of 
faith  as  confidence  in  the  existence  of  deity,  an  idea  of  the 
relationship  of  the  human  and  the  divine,  and  some  sense 
of  a  future  condition ;  and  its  witness  is  not  without  weight. 
But  of  more  worth  are  the  clearer  visions  of  Christians  in 
past  ages,  to  whom  the  great  essentials  of  Jesus'  revelation 
have  proven  soul-  satisfying.  We  are  bound  to  respect  the 
Christianity  of  the  past,  and  regard  it  an  authoritative  factor 
in  molding  that  of  the  present. 

Then  there  is  the  authority  of  the  individual.  He  comes 
into  conscious  relation  with  God  and,  in  so  far  as  his  spirit 
receives  the  enlightening  of  the  divine  spirit,  he  considers 
himself  to  be  in  the  possession  of  truth.  But  what  shall  we 
say  of  the  extent  and  absoluteness  of  this  test?  We  know 
how  tenaciously  some  men  hold  quite  contrary  opinions, 
each  equally  confident  that  the  other  is  in  error.  Calvin 
declared  Christ  to  be  "the  eternal  son  of  God"  while  Serve- 
tus  believed  him  to  be  the  "son  of  the  eternal  God,"  and 
Servetus  burned  at  the  stake  in  loyalty  to  his  faith  while 
Calvin  thought  God's  will  was  thereby  being  performed.  The 
personal  equation  can  never  be  entirely  eliminated  from  our 
thinking,  but  its  presence  may  be  recognized.  But  suppose 
we  say,  "we  are  indoctrinated  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  there- 
fore are  right ;  we  have  the  truth  and  those  who  do  not  agree 
with  us  are  in  error."  When  we  take  this  attitude  very 
likely  we  need  to  be  reminded  that  there  are  some  things 
which,  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  God  himself  cannot  do. 
For  instance,  he  cannot  put  the  entire  ocean  into  a  teacup 
and  have  it  remain  the  ocean,  nor  can  he  instil  a  full  reve- 
lation of  truth  into  a  cranium  whose  thought  capacity  is  of 
narrow  range  and  whose  chambers  are  already  occupied  by 
the  demons  of  dogmatism,  ignorance,  prejudice  and  religious 

i6 


intolerance.  Perhaps  the  religious  mind  more  than  any- 
other  needs  to  give  constant  attention  to  mental  house- 
cleaning.  But  at  best  the  limitations  of  a  man  forbid  that 
God  should  make  an  absolute  and  supreme  revelation  of 
truth  to  him.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  "this  is  the  way  it 
seems  to  me  and  this  must  be  the  final  test  of  religious  cer- 
tainty." Yet  there  is  danger  of  our  doing  this  without  hav- 
ing made  an  honest  effort  to  free  ourselves  fro;n  enslaving 
limitations. 

Thus  historical  study  appeals  for  its  authority  to  the  self- 
attesting  power  of  truth,  to  the  interpretations  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  the  race,  and  to  the  scriptural  records,  partic- 
ularly those  which  contain  the  message  of  Jesus. 

THE  STUDY  OF  RELIGION:  ITS  COMPREHENSIVE  AIM 
Finally,  what  are  the  ends  which  this  entire  study  is  meant 
to  subserve  in  the  training  of  men  for  the  Christian  minis- 
try? Time  will  permit  us  to  answer  the  question  only  in 
merest  outline.  Its  comprehensive  aim  is  to  grasp  the  mean- 
ing of  human  existence  in  its  relation  to  the  life  of  God. 
What  is  the  significance  of  a  human  life  in  its  relation  to  the 
age-long  story  of  the  divine  economy  ? 

But  at  once  we  are  impressed  by  the  insignificance  of  a 
human  being.  How  insignificant  is  man  physically!  His  life 
hangs  by  a  delicate  thread  that  may  snap  in  an  instant,  nor 
can  he  compare  in  strength  with  the  beast  of  the  field  or  the 
creature  of  the  forest.  The  ox  that  he  goads  or  the  lion 
that  he  cages  ma\^  easily,  worst  him  in  a  trial  of  physical 
strength. 

And  how  small  man  is  in  the  vastness  of  the  universe ! 
Some  starry  night  he  wanders  forth,  in  imagination,  into 
space.  When  he  has  reached  the  most  distant  planet  his 
journey  is  scarcely  begun,  yet  he  has  passed  many  twinkling 
orbs  that  far  exceed  in  bulk  his  little  mother  earth ;  and  then 


17 


he  passes  on  to  the  nearest  fixed  star,  only  to  find  it  the  cen- 
ter of  a  solar  system  as  vast  as  his  own.  And  beyond  is  a 
labyrinth  of  worlds.  Blinded  by  the  blaze  of  immensity  he 
gropes  his  way  back  to  earth  and  asks,  What  is  man  in  the 
vast  universe  of  God?  He  is,  as  it  were,  only  a  mote  on  a 
little  grain  of  star  dust  whirling  on  endlessly  through  space. 

Or  look  at  him,  if  you  will,  as  he  fills  his  place  upon  the 
earth.  He  may  boast  of  his  divine  origin,  or  exult  in  the 
promise  of  his  glorious  future ;  he  may  observe  that  the 
Bible  opens  with  a  Paradise  made  for  him  and  closes  with 
the  picture  of  a  grander  Paradise  that  awaits  him,  but  what 
lies  between  these  two  mountain  peaks  of  revelation?  When 
the  gates  of  the  first  Eden  closed  upon  mankind,  he 
descended  headlong  to  the  valley  below  and  here  he  has  been 
left  to  work  out  his  destiny.  He  is  henceforth  a  creature 
of  the  lowland,  and  must  breathe  the  odors  of  its  miasmatic 
swamps  that  exhale  the  pestilential  malaria  of  sin.  Here, 
too,  lurks  the  evil  serpent,  which,  grown  bold  with  his  suc- 
cess over  men,  finally  attempts  to  fasten  his  fangs  in  the  very 
Son  of  God.  The  story  of  human  earthly  struggle  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  is  one  of  sore  conflict  and  distress. 
Surely  there  can  be  little  wonder  that  the  human  spirit  at 
last  should  flutter  at  the  windows  of  heaven  as  a  bird  with 
sin-stained  and  bedraggled  plumage. 

Man,  standing  alone,  is  nothing.  He  may  flourish  to-day 
and  to-morrow  and  the  day  after,  but  ultimately  is  cut  down 
as  grass  and  withereth.  He  finds  the  true  significance  of  his 
being  only  by  linking  himself  zvith  the  Almighty. 

The  history  of  human  progress  has  emphasized  this  fact 
time  and  again.  How  does  it  happen  that  to-day  the  gigan- 
tic steam  engine  plunges  headlong  across  the  continent  and 
the  giant  steamship  cleaves  its  way  through  the  ocean,  eft'ect- 
ing  a  speed  in  transportation  of  which  our  ancestors  of  a 
few  generations    ago    never    dreamed?     Has    the    Creator 


i8 


endowed  the  universe  with  some  new  possibilities  within 
these  recent  years?  No!  From  the  very  day  of  creation 
the  little  drop  of  water  held  its  expansive  properties,  but  for 
ages  it  had  been  waiting  for  some  man  to  unlock  the  portals 
of  its  power.  To-day  the  electric  wire  encircles  the  globe 
and  we  may  send  a  message,  in  almost  an  instant,  to  some 
far  distant  friend,  or  indeed  converse  with  him.  Has  God 
only  recently  surcharged  the  universe  with  electric  power? 
No !  From  time  immemorial  the  lightning  has  sported  in 
the  heavens,  waiting  for  some  man,  with  Promethean  cun- 
ning, to  lay  hold  of  it  and  harness  it. 

This  divine  intention  is  further  emphasized  by  the  mental 
and  spiritual  endowments  bestowed  upon  humanity.  When 
an  individual  boasts  that  he  is  self-made,  he  can  properly 
mean  only  that  he  has  made  good  use  of  the  possibilities  with 
which  God  has  endowed  him,  and  the  man  whose  powers  of 
spiritual  perception  are  so  keen  that  he  becomes  a  remarka- 
ble interpreter  of  the  divine,  will  acknowledge  humbly  that 
the  secret  of  his  ability  is  the  leading  presence  of  the  divine 
spirit.  At  best  the  rational  and  spiritual  man  is  merely 
thinking  God's  thoughts  after  him ;  yet  it  is  the  man  who 
thinks,  and  this  power  to  think  and  to  worship  has  been  his 
ever  since  the  instant  that  he  became  a  man.  If  he  fails  to 
realize  these  possibilities  he  not  only  thwarts  the  divine 
intention  but  impoverishes  the  universe  of  which  he  is  a 
part.  Yet  how  patiently  God  has  waited  for  a  Copernicus 
to  dethrone  the  earth  and  enthrone  the  sun  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  solar  system ;  for  a  Kepler  and  a  Galileo  to 
spy  out  its  secrets  and  a  Newton  to  read  its  laws ;  for  an 
Isaiah  or  a  Paul  to  comprehend  its  spiritual  meaning !  Here 
was  the  world  waiting  to  be  understood  and  God  desiring  to 
"be  comprehended,  and  here  were  men  possessed  with  the 
very  faculties  necessary  for  the  task  if  only  they  would  use 
them.     ]\ran  is  a  sluggard;  he  has  been  lamentably  tardy  in 


19 


entering  into  the  heritage  that  would  give  his  Hfe  its  fullest 
meaning. 

To  bring  men  to  the  consciousness  of  this  mission  is  the 
supreme  aim  of  our  study.  We  do  not  seek  merely  to 
recover  the  exact  situation  which  produced  an  Isaiah,  a  Paul 
or  a  Jesus,  or  called  into  being  the  sacred  literature  of 
Christendom ;  but  we  strive  to  measure,  to  fathom,  the  spirit- 
ual currents,  which  bore  these  upon  their  bosom.  That 
great  "unplumbed,  estranging  sea"  whose  billows  break  on 
the  shores  of  time,  but  whose  yonder  edge  placidly  laps  eter- 
nity's strand,  casts  upon  our  coasts  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of 
the  ages ;  and  as  we  gather  therefrom  many  a  gem  of  truth, 
we  strive  to  comprehend  the  eternal,  divine  significance  of 
human  existence. 


DATE  DUE 

^;uJi 

DEMCO  38-297 

